Two Brothers Down a Dark Alley Sometime in 1979
by starfishstar
Summary: Regulus' hand tightened on his wand. "I mean no harm," he repeated. "I highly doubt that," Sirius said, but his hand relaxed fractionally. "What do you want, then, Reg?" (Part 3 of La Ronde Noire)


**Notes: **This story is part 3 of series called "La Ronde Noire," which follows characters and themes from the Black family, with each story following one character from the previous scene into the next scene, until it eventually comes around full circle. So far:

Part 1: "The Landlord's Other Daughter" (Narcissa and Andromeda)

Part 2: "Tea, No Sympathy" (Narcissa and Regulus)

Part 3: "Two Brothers Down a Dark Alley Sometime in 1979" (Regulus and Sirius)

Thank you once again to stereolightning for betaing, and making me actually address the details I was attempting to gloss over :-)

– – – – –

"Sirius!" Regulus called.

Sirius spun around, hand already shooting towards the inner breast pocket of his robes. Really, even Sirius ought to know better than to walk down a dark alley alone, at night, without his wand already firmly in his grasp. But Sirius had never exactly been known for his ability to think ahead.

"Just me," Regulus said, holding up his hands to show he was no threat.

"_Reg_?" Sirius' voice was pure disbelief. "What the hell. What are you doing here?"

That was a question with many possible answers, long and short ones, too many to sort through – and none that Sirius would understand.

The shortest answer, perhaps, was that Regulus had been in Knockturn Alley, acquiring a locket that was as close as he could possibly get to the description he had drawn in great detail from Kreacher. Everything was ready. It would be tonight.

Then he'd walked back out to Diagon Alley and caught sight of a dark mop of hair he couldn't fail to recognise, just disappearing in the door of a pub with some of those disreputable friends of his. And something had compelled Regulus, despite the urgency of every minute, despite the task that couldn't be put off, to wait there, to see if he could catch his brother for a moment, when and if he left the pub alone. He wouldn't have another chance.

And so Regulus had stood here, for over an hour, tapping his fingers against his side and trying to make his mind a blank slate. There was no need to think about tonight. All his preparations were in place, his plan was flawless and complete, and he'd wrung from a teary-eyed Kreacher an ironclad promise never to tell, not even Mother or Cissy. It was better that way.

"Just, you know, thought I'd say 'hey,'" he said. "We haven't talked in a while."

Even in the scant light of the alley, Regulus saw his brother's eyebrows shoot up into the perfect picture of sarcastic disbelief. Yeah, all right, not the best excuse he'd ever come up with. But he didn't have much to work with here. They hadn't had a proper conversation in years.

Sirius' hand still hovered near his breast pocket. Was he going to try to hex Regulus? Did he have some kind of device for communicating with his detestable friends and calling them gallantly to his aid?

Regulus reached surreptitiously for his own wand. He couldn't afford to have Sirius stop him, or incapacitate him. Not now.

"Give me one reason I shouldn't turn you in to the Ministry," Sirius growled. "I know what you are."

"Because I mean no harm," Regulus said, fingertips brushing his wand in his pocket, but not yet drawing it.

Sirius' eyes bored into him, from several paces away down the alley. "I could cast a Full-Body Bind on you right now, before you could even draw your wand. You know I've always been faster than you."

Regulus shook his head. "I doubt it. Not anymore."

Sirius' fingers twitched. Regulus' hand tightened on his wand. "I mean no harm," he repeated.

"I highly doubt that." But Sirius' hand relaxed fractionally. "What _do_ you want, then, Reg?"

What did he want? No tearful reconciliations, certainly. No avowals that they had always loved each other, really, and that blood was thicker than water. In the end, it really wasn't.

"Just wanted to say hi." That sounded hollow even to his own ears. He tried again. "Wanted to make sure you were – all right and all."

"Oh, yeah, yeah, I'm groovy. Except for, oh, your creepy buddies trying to kill me and my friends every chance they get. Think you could tell them to lay off or something? It's not very sportsmanlike."

It wasn't a question that really asked for an answer, so Regulus didn't answer.

They regarded each other, and Sirius relaxed a fraction more. His face looked almost – regretful, or something.

"And you," Sirius asked, tone a little less aggressive. "You doing okay?"

Regulus nearly laughed. Was he doing okay? Was he? He was about to betray the only master he had ever served, the one master he had thought would never fail him. He would surely die tonight. He had no idea what the hell he was doing, really. And yet he knew he was right.

"Yeah," he said. "I reckon I'll be all right."

They stood there a few moments longer, two brothers separated by a few feet of grimy paving stones and a gulf of years. This was it, then. This would have to do.

Regulus squared his shoulders and said, "You're still wrong about a lot of things, you know. But sometimes, just by accident, you get something right."

Sirius' features scrunched up in confusion. It was an unflattering look on his otherwise handsome face.

Well, so what if he never understood. Regulus wasn't doing what he was about to do to win fame. He certainly wasn't doing it to win Sirius' approval.

"Take care of yourself, Sirius," he said. "Try not to get killed, would you? I think I might actually be disappointed."

Sirius stared at him for a second, then threw back his head and burst out with that strange laugh of his, like a bark.

Yes, Regulus thought, that would do. He would leave remembering his brother like that.

As he stepped away, he saw Sirius start to lower his head again, reining in his laughter. Regulus heard his brother say, "Try not to die either, okay?"

But then Regulus was around the corner and gone.


End file.
